General Motors Dispatcher

How Long Will I Be Employed?

I've been researching my ideas on how to become more self-sufficient. I read more stories and gathered a few ideas. During my search for "green" power, I happened across a great website that teaches you how to design and build a wind powered generator out of what we would consider to be trash. That sounds like a rewarding project all around. Use old trash - harness natural energy! I like it! So I decided that wind power was going to be my first project.

I spent my entire Saturday running errands to various hardware and home supply stores to attain the necessary equipment, tools and building materials to modify our house. It was such a nice day that I didn't mind going for a drive. I know it will be one of the last outings I get to take before this really hits bottom.

It was around eleven in the morning when I embarked upon my mission. I decided to make my first scheduled stop at Home Depot. The place was completely packed. Every single available parking space was occupied. People had even begun to do what I like call, "Parking Lot Parking Spot Expansions". They were parked on the concrete lot dividers, on the grass and the sides of the building. I began to think I had taken a wrong turn and ended up at Wal-Mart by accident.

People were frantically scrambling to get into the store. My heart was pounding. I never did well in crowded public places as it was and here I am walking into what looked like a school of sharks on a feeding frenzy. As I entered the store, I could feel the palm of my hands begin to perspire. My muscles tightened as I lay my eyes upon the utter chaos that was in action within the walls of the store. The people that worked there looked as though they were going to burst at any moment. None of them were prepared for this insanity and neither was I. I tried to be as patient as I could with everyone but it seemed as though I was the only one attempting to be polite. It was truly every man for himself. I wanted to run out the door, get into my car and drive far, far away. How I wished I had someone with me so I could have some sense of security!

The Nightmare at Home Depot took almost three hours. I stood in line for almost an hour and a half. People were talking about the looming shortages. A man who was three people behind me in the checkout line chirped angrily about not having enough money for gas because he had to buy supplies to create a garden in his backyard. A young couple at the cash register one lane over started screaming at each other because their credit card was refused. The man was blaming the woman for not paying the bill, the woman was angry because he didn't bring the checkbook. People were irate over the prices in the store. Everyone there was miserable.

I left Home Depot around one in the afternoon and proceeded to my next stop. My body was growing tired already and I had accomplished only one goal thus far. Holding my breathe momentarily, I pulled into the parking lot of the grocery store. It wasn't as busy as I had expected it to be. I felt relieved to know that I'd be able to walk throughout the store without some Sasquatch sized people squashing me like an ant in a mosh pit at a Korn concert. Like the ant, I didn't stand a chance in hell either of making it out without getting kicked around.

When I first walked through the entrance of the store there was a large sign directly in front of me that read: "We are out of ALL produce until further notice. Sorry for any inconvenience. There were four security guards standing in a circle in the foyer of the store. They eyeballed me like a criminal as I walked by. I'd never seen such a massive store look so bare in my entire life until now. It was slim pickings for me. I grabbed a shopping buggy (one with three good wheels and one extremely confused one of course) to load up on the leftover items they had in stock. The employees were cleaning up messes left behind by customers during the mass shop-a-thon.

I passed by a small billboard that had photos of the young men and women from our area that were stationed over in Iraq. I recognized a few faces I had gone to school with in the pictures. I wondered how scared they have to be right now. The violence over there is hard enough to stomach as it is. I wished they could come home and be with their families in this time of trouble.

Canned soups, canned veggies, and spaghetti sauce were all about gone. I shoveled a few armloads of them into my cart and continued on my way. An aisle over from where I was I could here a woman crying and an older woman trying to comfort her. It was hard to make out what the woman who was crying was saying, but the older woman said to her sternly, "I went through the Depression as a little girl. We barely had enough food to live on most of the time. My father worked 14 hours a day for a slap-in-the-face wage but by golly we made it. It was very difficult and the key to making through the Depression was adapting to change. Once again, we will have to do just that." How true that statement was!

I have to get up in few hours to begin project "Windmill". I'll let you know how things come along. Hopefully I'll get some video up for you in the next day or so. Computer's been rather sluggish these days with servers going down and whatnot. That's all for now. Sleep tight...and remember...don't let the economy bite!

It's a very similar scene here in middle Tennessee. There are two major home and garden stores and both are looking like Mother Hubbert's cupboard. The garden areas are particularly wiped out, and the folks working at the store had no idea when more would be coming in. There are a few things I wanted to get, but will make do with what I have.

Thanks for the add! Also I hadn't gotten a chance a give you some major thumbs up on your posts! They contain a wealth of information that my family and I are utilizing in order to become self sufficient. Rock on in Tennessee Peak!